Slack-adjuster.



W. H. SAUVAGE SLACK ADJU'STER. 'APPLICATION F|LEnj 1AN. 25, 1915..

Patented 'May 29, 1917.

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/ sTATEs PATENT WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, OFTLUsHING, NEW YYORK, Assrenon To GOULD OOUPLER COMPANY, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

SLACK-ADJ'USTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 1917.

Application mea January-'25, 191e. serial Nav-1,196.

T o all whom Y i Be it knownzthatl, WILLIAM SAUvAGE,

a citizen; ofthellnited States, and resident of Flushin`g,':'in lthe county-of Queens'and State of Newz York, have iinvented certain new and useful .Improvements in Slack- Adjusters, oflwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to slack adjusters, and in its more intense aspect to automatic slack adjusters particularly adapted for use in connection with the truck brake rigging of railway cars, although it is, of course, to be understood that Iwithout material modification many features of the invention are applicable to the foundation rigging adjacent the power cylinder...

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple. and practical automatic slack adjuster which will be reliable and eflicient in'use and Operation'. 'A further obj ect is to *providean automatic slack adjuster having rel'ati-velyafew parts which will be inexpensive ftomanufacture and so positioned and arranged'as to'insure'predetermined brake sho'ecleara'nce as well as uniform piston travel' under all'v conditions.

Other objects willbe inpart obvious from the annexed drawings and in `part indicated in connection therewithrby' ,thel following analysis of this invention'. f

This invention 'accordingly-consists in the features of construction, v'combination of parts and in the unique relations of the members and in the relative proportioning and-disposition thereof, all as more completely outlined herein. L 1

To enableio'thers skilled, in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying features vthereofV that theyV may embody the same by the numerous .modifications in structure and relation contemplated by lthis invention,` drawings depicting a preferred form havel been annexed as a partof this disclosure, and in such drawings, like characters of reference denotel corresponding parts throughout all the views, in which@ Figure l is a side elevation of a truck and associated brake rigging, :certain parts belng partly in section or brokenl away in order to more clearly illustrate the present invention as applied thereto;

- Figs.y 2 and 3 are detail lviews of certain groups of parts.

Referring lnowfto thed'rawings in detail and moreparticularly to lFig. l, idenotes a truck bolster and'frame "as shown in dotted lines of anordinary car truck having an adjustable hanger 6I at one side thereof pivotally connected: at the point 7 to the upper end of as dead lever 8. The lowerend of this deadlever 8 is connected at the point 10 to Oneend of a. non-extensible push rod 11 theI opposite end of which rod "is connected at the point l2to the lower -end of a two partlive lever. This live'lever which will hereinafter be described in detail may for the'l present be considered of one piece of usual construction'connected at lits upper end 13 'toa pull rod or other brake actuating mechanism' 14. -`Both ylevers' 'are provided with ystruts la'ndl associated with brake beams, if the inechanislnis applied to a brake :beam truck asfshown, adapted to carry shoes coacting' with the' peripheries of the wheels inthe usual' manner.

f Adjacent'the bolster''is a'lug 18 having a rod 20 projecting toward' the left, passing through a lug 21 upon the vlive lever and having a head 22 at its end: Between the lug and head and coiled about the rod 20 is a spiral spring 23 so positioned and arranged as to cause a return of the live lever to normal position on release of the braking power.

Temporary take up and holding mechainsm is' interposed between vthe live and' stitutes a device providing for predeter mined brake shoe clearance. This distance may be varied if so desired by the interposition of one or more washers 30 between this clamp 28 and one of the stops.

In the present case the excess travel due to the wear of the parts of the brake rigging is temporarily taken up and held by this device as the friction clamp 28 will slide relatively along the rod 211 when such excess travel takes place. In order, however, to permanently take up this slack registered by the temporary mechanism, a positive holding device is secured adjacent the point of connection 25 or between the two parts of the live lever, the angular relation of which, is progressively changed as the excess travel is taken up.

The lower part of the lever as shownV more clearly in the detail views comprises two similarly shaped members 31 provided with ratchet disks 32 at their upper ends adaptedV to be engaged by a bifurcated pawl 33 mounted at 34 upon the upper part 2 of the live lever and held in engagement with the ratchet teeth by means of a spring 35 or the like. The parts are so positioned and arranged as to prevent a change of relative angular disposition of the parts 31 and 2 constituting the live lever, during an application of the brakes yet permit excess travel to be taken up and permanently registered by the teeth of the ratchet on release of the brakes.

The device operates in substantially the following manner: An application of the brakes will cause'a movement of the upper part 2 of the live lever toward the left and by reason of the pawl and ratchet connection between the parts of the live lever, motion will be transmitted through the push rod 11 to cause a corresponding movement, in the opposite direction, of the dead lever 8 substantially in the manner common to brake rigging mechanism of this broad general type. If, however, excess travel takes place exceeding that provided for by the lost motion device adjacent the strut 17 a relative slipping will take place between the friction clamp 28and the adjusting rod corresponding to this excess travel and the brake beams will move relatively apart. On release of the brakes, the shoes-will first drop away fro-1n the wheels an amount corresponding to the predetermined brake shoe clearance and continued action of the return spring 23 will force the upper part of the lever about the pivot point 25, thus changingV the angular relation between the upper and lower parts of the live lever and permanently record the excess travel upon the teeth of the ratchet.

While'y the invention above described has been shown as applied to the brake truck rigging it may however be transposed to the foundation brake rigging if so desired by substituting the piston of the power cylinder for the pull rod 14 and connecting the remaining portions of the brake rigging to the parts of the live and dead levers substantially in the usual manner. The presentinvention is therefore believed to be simple, practical and reliable and to accomplish, among others, all of the objects and advantages above set forth.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a. slack adjuster, in combination, a source of power, a two part live lever connected therewith, temporary and permanent take up and holding mechanisms associated with the live lever adjacent the point of connection between its two parts and a return spring acting on one of said parts of said live lever.

2. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a source of power, a two part live lever connected therewith and temporary and permanent take up and holding mechanism associated with the liveJ lever adjacent the point of connection between its two parts, said temporary mechanism having a yielding friction device associated therewith and so positioned and arranged as to permit brake shoe clearance.

3. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a source of power, a plural part live lever connected therewith, and temporary and permanent take up and holding mechanism having means insuring brake shoe clearance associated with the live lever adjacent the point of connection between two of its parts, said permanent take up and holding device comprising a pawl and ratchet mechanism interposed between said two parts of the live lever.

4c. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a source of power, a plural part live lever connected therewith, and temporary and permanent take up and holding mechanism associated with the live lever adjacent the point of connection between said parts and having a yielding frictional point of support, said permanent take up and holding device comprising means acting between the elective ends or' the adjacent parts of the live lever adapted to hold the same in the desired angular relation.

5. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a dead lever, a two part live lever, a source of power connected with one of the parts ot the live lever," a non-extensible push rod directly connecting the other part of the live lever and the dead lever, temporary take up and holding mechanisms between the live and dead levers, and permanent take up and holding mechanism between the parts of the live lever.

6. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a dead lever, a two part live lever, a source or power connected with one 0f the parts of the live lever, a non-extensible push rod directly connecting the other part of the live lever and the dead lever, temporary take up and holding mechanism between the live and dead levers, and permanent take up and holding mechanism between the parts of the live lever, said permanent mechanism adapted to permit the variation of the angular relation between the parts of the live lever in one direction only.

7. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a dead lever, a two part live lever, a source of Vpower connected with one ot the parts of the live lever, a push rod connecting the' other part of the live lever and the dead lever, temporary take up and holding mechanism between the live and dead levers, permanent take up and holding mechanism between the parts of the live lever, and a return spring associated with one of the parts of the live lever adapted to restore the parts to normal position and cause a relative angular movement between the parts of the live lever when excess travel has taken place.

8. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a dead lever, a two part lever, asource -ot power connected with one of the parts of the live lever, a push rod connectedlwith the other part of the live lever, temporary take up and holding mechanism between the live and dead levers, permanent take up and holding mechanism between the parts of the live lever, and a return spring associated with one of the parts of the live lever adapted to restore the parts to normal position and cause a vrelative angular movement between the parts of the live lever when excess travel hastaken place, said return spring being associated with the live lever and adapted to be distorted from normal position as the brakes are applied.

9. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a support, a dead lever connected therewith, a source of power, a two part lever oonnected with the source of power, a non-eX- tensible push rod interposed between the ends of the live and dead levers, temporary take up and holding mechanism yieldingly connected with one of said levers, and positive take up and holding mechanism 1nlterposed between the parts of said live lever,

l0. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a support, a dead lever connected therewith, a source or" power, a two part live lever connected with the source of power, a push rod directly interposed between the live and dead levers, temporary take up and holding nechanism connected with one of said levers and positive take up and holding mechanism interposed between the parts of said live lever, said permanent take up and holding mechanism comprising a ratchet mechanism associated with one of the parts and a pawl coacting therewith mounted upon the other adapted to permit a change in the angular relation between said parts in one direction only.

11. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a source of power connected with the live lever, and adjusting mechanism having a rictional connection at one end and adapted to provide predetermined brake shoe clearance, said live lever having two parts adapted to have their relative angular position progressively changed on excess travel of the brake rigging.

l2. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a source of power connected with the live lever, and adjusting mechanism having a yielding i'rictional point of support adapted to provide predetermined brake shoe clearance, said live lever having two parts adapted to have their relative angular position progressively changed on excess travel of the brake rigging, one of said parts carrying a ratchet and the other a pawl adapted to coact with the ratchet and slip over the teeth on return of the brake mechanism when excess travel has taken place.

13. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a source of power connected with the live lever, and adjusting mechanism adapted to provide predetermined brake shoe clearance, said live lever having two parts adapted to have their relative angular position progressively changed on excess travel of the brake rigging, and a return spring associated with the upper part of the live lever, said return spring being interposed between a relatively iixed support and, said live lever.

14:. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a source of power connected with the live lever, an adjusting mechanism between the live and dead levers having` a frictional connection at one end and adapted to provide predetermined brake shoe clearance, said. live lever having two parts adapted to have their relative angular position progressively changed on excess travel of the brake rigging, and a return spring associated with the live lever, a rod on which said return spring is mounted between a lug carried by the live lever and a head on the rod, whereby the spring is distorted on application of the brakes.

15. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a two part live lever, a dead lever, brake beam struts associated with said levers, a push rod connecting the lower ends of the levers,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for an adjusting mechanism connecting the levers adjacent the point of connection with the struts, a return spring for the live lever, and means directly associated with the live lever between its parts adapted to permanently take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging.

Signed at New York in the countyiy of New York and State of New York this 16th day of December A. D. 1915.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

